Should Teachers Really Have Guns?

Image from source, ThinkProgress

It's so automatic now, that it's become a morbid joke: if there is a mass shooting--regardless of the circumstances--argument will be made that if only the victims/bystanders were armed, the shooter would have been stopped. The answer to gun violence is allegedly more guns, which seems like the old cold war "mutually assured destruction" to me, but what do I know?

So, it's not surprising that when there was a school shooting, many gun rights supporters responded by saying that teachers should be armed. Sounds kind of good on the surface, if you don't think about it much. I mean, you're adding a rather hefty job requirement onto teachers, aren't you? Not only are you asking them to be willing to carry a gun, but presumably to be trained in the art of using it. In a time where the same side of the political aisle are preaching austerity, and slashing government jobs (such as teachers), they want to also enlist those remaining teachers on the payroll to also be armed security?

But let's take a different tangent here. Think back to your school days. Think about the teachers you liked best, the ones with quirky eccentricities, the ones who seemed a bit "off," and the ones you downright hated. I don't know about you, but I had all sorts of teachers who I wouldn't trust with a firearm. Flighty airheads, short-tempered coaches, paranoid task-masters, alcoholic misfits. . .and those are just the bad examples. I also had wonderful teachers, from frail older ladies to wispy delicate beauties to kindly middle-aged bookish gentlemen. With rare exceptions, most of my teachers would have made horrifying choices to be playing Dirty Harry or John McClane through the school halls.

[Excerpt]

South Dakota Now Permits Teachers To Carry Guns In Classroom

On Friday, South Dakota become the first state to enact legislation, in the aftermath of the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, explicitly authorizing teachers and staff in K-12 schools to carry firearms. The measure “leaves it up to school districts to decide whether to allow armed teachers” and requires those who wish to carry guns to “undergo training similar to what law enforcement officers receive. . .”

Read more at: Think Progress